Chapter 274: Yoo Family's Sacred Mountain (2)
As soon as we boarded the Baekga Trading Company’s ship bound for the Central Plains, we finally escaped from this wretched Hainan Island.
Even on the way, I kept talking with Yoo Cheong to gather information.
Yoo Cheong, who was practically the current head of the Yoo Family, seemed to treat me like a fellow disciple from the same sect (which wasn’t entirely wrong) and answered my questions clearly.
“Actually, the Yoo Family’s identity as part of the Demonic Faction has long since faded.”
To be exact, it had been that way ever since Yoo Soo, who was one of the Three Thousand Lords, betrayed the Heaven-Defying Society four hundred years ago.
“After that, the Yoo Family, as a martial household, effectively met its end.”
“……”
The fact that the Grand Heavenly Lord didn’t exterminate the Yoo Family despite Yoo Soo’s betrayal was already something remarkable.
“After the betrayal of our ancestor Yoo Soo, the martial lineage of the Yoo Family was essentially severed.”
“Hmmm….”
Sensing the hatred in Yoo Cheong’s expression, I swallowed a groan.
Considering Yoo Soo’s end, it seemed unlikely that she had left behind any descendants.
Still, it wasn’t common to harbor such deep hatred over something that had happened centuries ago.
“Since then, the main family barely managed to continue its bloodline by serving as the guardians of Yoo Family's Sacred Mountain, a role passed down since the time of our founder.”
In such a situation, the existence of my Master was nothing short of a freak occurrence within the Yoo Family.
“The previous successor learned the incomplete secret arts remaining in the main family and pledged loyalty to the Imperial Palace.”
“I’ve heard about that.”
The Chief Commander of the Golden Robes Guard…
I still couldn’t fully picture what my Master’s days as a member of the Golden Robes Guard must have been like.
“Afterward, thanks to the connection with the Lord Baek Cheong, our family’s life gradually improved.”
“It seems like the Lord cares for you deeply.”
At those words, Yoo Cheong nodded with a bright expression.
“Yes! She even told me I could call her ‘Mother’ if I wanted to! Of course, I couldn’t possibly bring myself to accept such an honor.”
“……”
No, no matter how you look at it, that’s just…
Feeling quite uncomfortable, I asked cautiously.
“Um, what about your real mother?”
“I heard she left before I was old enough to remember.”
Well, that was somewhat fortunate.
Unaware of my complicated thoughts, Yoo Cheong continued speaking enthusiastically.
“Yoo Family's Sacred Mountain is truly a wonderful place. If the ritual there succeeds, the main family might finally be able to spread its wings again!”
“……”
I felt a little sorry for Yoo Cheong, but honestly, the chances of things going wrong there seemed much higher.
I didn’t know how exactly it would go wrong, but…
Yoo Cheong exclaimed in an excited tone.
“Even Elder Sixth Heavenly Lord, the Imperial Grand Tutor, will be participating, which will give the event even more prestige!”
“…Wait, the Imperial Grand Tutor?”
“Yes, to be precise, he’s the Crown Prince’s mentor and the one who recommended the Lord to the Society.”
“……”
Just what kind of person was Sixth Heavenly Lord?
He had brought the Lord Baek Cheong into the Heaven-Defying Society, yet he seemed to want her dead?
For this to make sense, it had to be one of two things.
Either they were scheming together to deceive me, or…
If not, then Sixth Heavenly Lord had some ulterior motive for bringing the Lord Baek Cheong into the Society.
‘At the moment, the latter seems more likely…’
I didn’t believe the Lord Baek Cheong had the acting skills to completely fool me.
I tried to continue gathering information by conversing more with Yoo Cheong and the Lord Baek Cheong, but I wasn’t able to obtain anything particularly useful.
In the end, I arrived at Yoo Family's Sacred Mountain without any notable gains.
And as soon as I fell asleep at the lodging prepared at the base of the mountain, I suddenly woke up in the place where the ancestral founders were said to reside.
---
I quickly corrected my way of addressing her.
Calling her “ancestor” was certainly rude to her.
“I apologize, Founder Ma.”
Hearing my correction, she smiled brightly.
“Is this bastard so desperate to die?”
Just as blood-colored sword qi began to form in her hand.
“Enough.”
Someone grabbed her by the back of her neck.
The one who stopped her wasn’t Jin Gwanchun or Pa Gooncheong.
It was a young man with white hair and a gloomy impression.
And for some reason, I could sense an eerie aura from him.
“Ah, Brother Hwan. Let go for a second! This little brat is mocking a senior sister like me!”
Despite Ma Seoyeon’s outburst, the young man’s attitude remained unchanged.
“Didn’t we agree to take the junior disciple directly to Master when he arrived? Stop wasting time.”
“Tch!”
“Anyway….”
The young man turned his somber gaze toward me.
“Looks like you didn’t come through the formal entrance again.”
“Ah, well….”
“The reason… is it that thing?”
As soon as he reached out his hand toward me, the two artifacts I was carrying resonated and flew toward him.
It was a phenomenon that ignored the laws of sorcery, but considering who he was, it made sense.
“What’s this? You had the Karma Mirror too?”
Seeing the True Star Sword and the Karma Mirror, Ma Seoyeon widened her eyes.
The young man’s eyes gleamed slightly as he examined the two artifacts.
“There’s one use left in the Karma Mirror. But…”
His gaze shifted toward me.
“Interesting. Did you win ownership by defeating someone in a battle of karma?”
He seemed to instantly understand how the Karma Mirror had changed hands.
I let out a bitter smile and shook my head.
“It was just luck.”
“This isn’t something you can simply attribute to luck. The opponent must have been confident of their victory to use this function….”
He then introduced himself to me.
“I’m Hwan Seong. I guess that makes me your Third Senior Brother.”
The founder of the Illusion Clan and a legend among sorcerers.
While there were various sects related to sorcery, such as the Mosan Sect or the Kunlun Sect, not a single person over the past thousand years had surpassed the might of Hwan Seong, known as the Illusion Demon God.
“I, Jin Yeomyung, the youngest disciple, greet you, Brother Hwan.”
“Good to meet you.”
Was it because a thousand years had passed?
Hwan Seong, with his white hair and gloomy impression, didn’t particularly seem to resemble his descendant Hwan Pyeong.
But that was beside the point.
“It seems my descendants have caused quite a bit of trouble in your era.”
Hwan Seong appeared to be somewhat aware of what his descendants had been up to.
Before I could say anything, Ma Seoyeon waved her hand and shouted.
“It’s been a thousand years, so why are you still hung up on that, Brother? And by the way, you brat. You call him properly ‘Senior Brother,’ but you treat me like trash?”
Ma Seoyeon began to radiate killing intent, fully drawing out the aura of Heavenly Slaughter Qi.
I hurriedly bowed to her.
“I apologize, Senior Sister. I took the joke too far!”
“……”
She glared at me for a while without saying anything, then withdrew her aura.
“Hmph, you better behave from now on!”
She calmed down far too easily, making me click my tongue inwardly.
‘…She wasn’t actually angry in the first place.’
Being able to control killing intent without true emotion must be one of the privileges of the Heavenly Slaughter Star.
If not, her anger management had reached a godly level.
Anyway.
“You were aware of the outside situation?”
“To some extent.”
Since I had a general understanding of what this space was, I was quite surprised by his response.
Ma Seoyeon grumbled.
“Hmph, Brother Hwan is special. He possesses the Dragon’s Eye, which sees through all creation. Knowing the outside situation is nothing for him.”
The Dragon’s Eye?
If that was true, it was certainly a talent that would make the Heaven-Defying Society lose their minds trying to claim it.
But what I was curious about was….
“I heard all of you were purely human.”
Hwan Seong nodded.
“It’s something I acquired later by passing the Dragon’s Trial. Since dragons don’t exist in your era, it isn’t that important.”
He then began to focus energy into the Karma Mirror.
Tremendous sorcery power gathered around Hwan Seong and began filling the Karma Mirror.
‘What!?’
What the Illusion Clan would have to pour an entire clan’s fortune into, Hwan Seong, a single individual, was accomplishing alone!
‘He’s a monster. Are all the Six Demonic Gods at that level?’
Even if I emptied my Dantian, which had reached the Extreme Demon Realm, dozens of times, I couldn’t possibly match that amount.
But then again, these Senior Brothers and Sisters were basically thought-forms by now.
Yet they were able to inject such power into a physical Karma Mirror?
Hwan Seong seemed to notice my doubt and smiled faintly.
“This isn’t purely my own power, so it’s possible.”
“Not your pure power…?”
“It’s the power I stored in advance with the other Senior Brothers and Sisters before separating from our true bodies. It’s also the energy that maintains this space.”
Flinch!
Hwan Seong smiled softly and reassured me.
“Don’t worry too much. This space itself was prepared as a legacy for our descendants.”
Finally, the Karma Mirror, now filled to its limit and glowing brilliantly, revealed its completed form.
It looked very much like the Karma Mirror I had seen back at the House of Slaughter, worthy of being called a Celestial Treasure.
Hwan Seong handed the Karma Mirror back to me and said,
“Using its final opportunity isn’t a bad idea, but a fully charged Karma Mirror has many useful abilities on its own.”
“……”
“I recommend saving it if you can.”
I looked at Hwan Seong with slightly teary eyes.
“Thank you. This is a precious gift.”
The Illusion Clan had been nothing but scheming and malicious so far, but their founder turned out to be such a good person!
“Well, putting that aside… let’s get to the main point.”
After charging the True Star Sword as well and handing it back to me, Hwan Seong spoke again.
“The reason you arrived here without using the formal entrance is likely because the Karma Mirror sensed your fate and acted on its own.”
“You said… fate?”
“It seems you have a curse hanging over your future.”
Flinch!
“What’s your current situation?”
I didn’t see how my being here was related to a curse, but I answered honestly.
After listening to me explain my situation and plans for about an incense stick’s time, Hwan Seong murmured softly.
“So you’ve arrived at a place called Yoo Family's Sacred Mountain to perform the Bongseon Ritual….”
“That’s correct.”
Ma Seoyeon tilted her head slightly.
“That looks like it’s near the entrance.”
“So it really is….”
I had suspected as much when Yoo Cheong had explained it, but Yoo Family's Sacred Mountain was where these Senior Brothers and Sisters had begun their new journey.
“Anyway, regardless of how you got here, since you’ve come, you should meet the other Senior Brothers you haven’t seen yet. After that, as Master instructed, we will begin the succession of the Heavenly Demonic Divine Art. But before that… there’s one thing you should know, Junior Brother.”
Both Hwan Seong and Ma Seoyeon looked at me with serious expressions.
“There is no such thing as proper or improper when it comes to the Bongseon Ritual.”
No proper or improper?
“Could you explain that in more detail?”
“Fundamentally, it’s a ritual of human sacrifice.”
“……!”
“It’s said that the first person to perform the Bongseon was the emperor of Qin, but in truth, the basic framework of the ritual existed long before that.”
According to Hwan Seong, the ritual dated back to the era when people used oracle bone script.
No, that wasn’t the important part.
“Are you saying that no matter how things proceed, human sacrifice will occur in the ritual?”
“Exactly. You understand well.”
“But I have thoroughly secured Cheon Yujeong, the descendant of the Founder. I have no intention of letting her enter the mountain in the first place.”
Despite my defense, Hwan Seong responded with skepticism.
“Are you sure? Maybe she isn’t their target.”
“……!!”
“The higher the quality of the blood, the greater the ritual’s effect. Is there anyone else among your companions with special blood?”
“T-That…”
At his words, someone immediately came to mind.
The Lord Baek Cheong, Baek Ryeo.
She was undoubtedly of royal blood.